Process of treating wood.



RfL. GILLIAM.

PROCESS OF TREATING WOOD- APPLlCATlON man AUG.26, 1914.

Patented Nov. 5, 1918.

1 w o (P obertLfllllwm ab MA M96 fl WWW/f WM M1 UNITED STATES PATENT onnion. f

ROBERT L. GILLIAM, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE GILLIANL PBOCESS COMPANY, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO, CORPORATION OF OHIO PROCESS OF TREATING WOOD.

Specification of LettersPatent.

Application filed August 26, 1914. Serial No. 858,743.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT L. GILLIAM, a citizen of the United States, residing at C0 lumbus, in the county of Franklin and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Processesof Treating Wood, of which the following is a speci- The sap of some woods, and particularly the sap of the wood of-the sweet gum tree, consists in part of liquid and in part of a gummy or gelatinous substance. The liquid part is easily removed by subjecting the wood to a steaming or seasoning process but the gelatinous part does not appear to be readily soluble or removable by the steam.

It is the common experience with the lumber of the sweet gum tree, if not with the lumber of other species of tree, that it has upon drying, after seasoning, a tendency to warp and twist.' It has occurred to me that this warping and twisting is due to the retention of said gummy or gelatinous substance in as hereinafter described and on the principle illustrated in the accompanying drawings. 1.

In said drawings Figure 1 is a vertical section.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the chamber on the line w-m looking down.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line yy Fig. 2, on a larger scale to show. a detail,

In the views-5 designates a, room or chamber which is constructed so as to be reasonably steam tight andto have a suitable opening at 5 through which the lumber is passed into and out of the chamber. 6 is a basin, said basin being'conveniently formed of concrete. In thefloor of the basin is constructed a well 6. 7 are pipes horizontally arranged within the room and connected with a header 8 located at the outer side of the structure. The pipes 7 are perforated as shown at 7 a along their upper sides to a'fl'ord exits for the steam into the chamber and said pipes are perforated to permit the exit into the Pipes 7 from which it issues through.

the per orations into the chamber. The liquid can be forced through a jetting device 11 arranged in the steam line 12. Any suitable means can be employed for agitating or circulating or distributing the steam and alkali to the wood as the particular means shown do not constitute the present invention.

The lumber to be treated can be carried into the chamber by means of a car, the lumber being first sticked or piled on the car so as to leave free spaces between itthrough which steam can circulate about the lumber.

In practice the green lumber or lumber tobe treated 'is run into the chamber, but before closing the chamber and turning on the steam I place in the basin 6 a quantity of an alkali, said alkali being preferably the ordinary commercial carbonate of soda because of its cheapness. Where the chamber has a working capacity of say thirty thousand feet of lumber the first charge of -soda aCCOI'diIlg to my ractice is about two Patented Nov.'5, 1918.

Connected with thebottom of the the door is closed tightly and the steam admitted through the pipes 7 to the chamber to maintain the temperature therein at about two hundred and twelve degrees Fahrenheit or at a temperature and for a period sufii cient to effect the seasoning of the lumber and the dissolution of the gummy or gelatinous substance before referred to. The duration of this treatment may .vary according to the nature of the wood treated but the time t necessary to effect the dissolution of the gummy or gelatinous substance in any particular Wood may be readily ascertained by examining specimens of the wood from time to time. The sap or water of condensation or both serve to dissolve the soda deposited in the basin. With some porous woods the dissolution of the gummy or gelatinous substance might be effected in as little as four or five hours or in the time employed in ordinary seasoning by the use of steam. The strength of the alkali might also make some difference in the time required: I have used my process in connection with the process for coloring the Sap wood of the sweet gum tree set forth in my Letters Patent of the United States, No. 1,084,266, dated January 13 1914. In the process of that patent-the wood of the sweet um tree is colored or tinted by subjecting it to the action of steam in the presence of iron. The process of treating the wood with alkali for the purpose herein described may be concurrent or simultaneous and in the same chamber With the said treatment for coloring. In such concurrent or simultaneous treatment I have subjected the wood to treatment for fortyeight hours and have obtained a product having both the desired tint and freedom from the aforesaid tendency to Warp and twist. Where the treatment of the Wood is directed to both coloring the Wood and securing immunity against Warping and twisting and iron filings are used, such filings are portant that the'time consumed for effecting t a coloring may be greater than that necessary 'for effecting immunity to warping and twisting. I

What I claim is: a The process of treating the Wood of the sweet gum tree for the purpose of preventing it from warping and twisting consisting in subjecting that wood to the action of steam mixed with a solution of an alkali in a confining chamber.

ROBERT L. GILLIAM. Witnesses:

BENJAMIN F INCKEL, B. H. GRANT. 

